1. Field of Disclosed Subject Matter
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for improving stack integrity for image receiving media substrates in a compiler tray in an image forming device by supplementing the structure of the compiler tray with a pair of auger components configured with a bottom surface that, in conjunction with a stepped support structure in the compiler tray, applies a mechanical leveling force to reduce or otherwise eliminate detrimental effects associated with substrate curl or uneven set build-up in the compiler tray.
2. Related Art
Many modern image forming devices are comprised of myriad discrete component sub-systems. These discrete component sub-systems include (1) image receiving media supply components at an input end of the image forming device, (2) pre-processing and/or conditioning components for preparing surfaces of the image receiving media substrates to receive marking material to form images, (3) a marking material delivery component for depositing marking material on the surfaces of the image receiving media substrates to form the images according to input or read image signals, (4) fusing/finishing components for fixing the deposited marking material on the image receiving media substrates, and (5) post-processing devices for carrying out certain post processing tasks including compilers for collating the image receiving media substrates as sets comprising multi-page finished documents, for example, for stapling or otherwise binding the multi-page finished documents.
The individual component sub-systems are generally interconnected by a series of increasingly intricate image receiving media substrate transport sub-systems, paths and/or components. The image receiving media transport sub-systems, paths and/or components are generally designed and implemented in particular office-sized image forming devices in a manner that manages a size footprint for the image forming devices while not specifically limiting the transport requirements from an output of one component sub-system to an input of another component sub-system.
At an end of the processing scheme, the form and function of the image receiving media transport sub-systems, paths and/or components often become somewhat more narrowly defined. The print job is generally completed with individual sheets of image receiving media substrates, with the images formed and fixed thereon, being collected in sets according to instructions for completing individual print jobs. Individual image receiving media substrates and/or compiled sets of image receiving media substrates are collected and/or assembled in differing configurations of compiler trays associated with one or more of the post-processing sub-systems. Manipulation of the individual image receiving media substrates, or of the sets of image receiving media substrates, at that point in the processing of the documents responsive to the directed print job can be particularly intricate. There is often a need to ensure that the sets of image receiving media substrates are fairly precisely handled, stacked, and/or registered in order to facilitate one or more post-processing or finishing processes including, for example, stapling or binding.
The manipulations associated with aligning (registering) individual sheets into sets are broadly referred to as, and are generally understood by those of skill in the art to involve, functions of stacking and tamping the individual sheets of image receiving media substrates into precise alignment in the sets. Stacking often occurs against a static edge alignment body portion at an output of the processing or post-processing devices to provide longitudinal alignment of the individual sheets of image receiving media substrates with respect to a process direction, stacking being generally considered to be a passive process. Tamping generally refers to a most often active alignment component in which paddles or other devices may be employed on any, but most often, lateral sides of a set of image receiving media substrates to align the set in a direction orthogonal to the process direction.
Certain currently-fielded systems may be configured with what may generally be described as vertical compiler sub-systems. FIG. 1 illustrates a simple schematic representation of a side view of an exemplary system 100 incorporating a commonly-implemented vertical compiler. FIG. 2 illustrates a simple schematic representation of a top plan view of an exemplary system 100 incorporating the same commonly-implemented vertical compile shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, individual sheets of image receiving media substrates 130 exit an imaging system processing/post-processing device 110 at an exit/ejection port 115 and are individually deposited in an output (compiler) tray 120.
A “bottom” or platform of the output (compiler) tray 120 may consist of a plurality of longitudinally-arranged image receiving media substrate supports that extend in the process (longitudinal) direction of the image receiving media substrates 130. The image receiving media substrates 130 rest on the substrate supports and are generally manually recoverable from the substrate supports.
In exemplary systems such as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, vertical set compiling may occur in one or more stages as follows. Individual image receiving medium substrates 130 may be dropped in stages from the output (compiler) tray 120, acting as a temporary compiler. This dropping may be effected, by laterally-opposing motions, i.e., orthogonal to the process direction, of the plurality of longitudinal image receiving media substrate supports (or arms) toward opposed lateral edges of the output (compiler) tray 120, displacing the substrate supports from under the image receiving media substrates 130. As a result of the linear movement of the plurality of longitudinal image receiving media substrate supports, each of the image receiving media substrates 130 drops down to an image receiving medium set receiving platform, or an output set collection platform component 150.
The image receiving media substrates 130 may be collected as a set 140 on the output set collection platform component 150. The output set collection platform component 150 may, in turn, be comprised of at least a pair of compiler shutters 152/154. Each sheet of the image receiving media substrates 130 in the set is dropped in a similar fashion to create the set 140 of image receiving media substrates on the compiler shutters 152/154. When the set 140 of image receiving media substrates is complete and properly registered, and optionally, for example, bound or stapled, the set 140 of image receiving media substrates is then dropped onto a stack of previously-dropped sets 170 of image receiving media substrates, or directly onto some manner of set output transport path 160 to be moved in a process direction B from a first stack position to a second stack position 180 and beyond.
The above-described dropping function is currently undertaken in commonly-implemented vertical compiler sub-systems by rapid cycling of the compiler shutters 152/154 in opening and then closing in mechanically opposing motions.